The Sun. — London, England, 1818-01-19 00:00:00

THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. SERMON, preached before the UNIVERSITY of CAM BRIDGE, at Great St. Mary's Church, on WEDNESDAY. November 19, •11317, being the Day of the FUNERAL of her Royal Highness the PRINCF,SS CHARLOTTE AU til:sTA of WALES. By the Reverend JunN KAYE, D. D. MaAer t Christ's Coll: ge, and Regius Professor of Divinity. It would be offering an insult to the under standing and feelings of our Readers if we were to apologize for the length of the Extract which we have taken from this admirable Discourse ; and it would be presumption in us to bestow our humble tribute of praise on a composition that so emphatically speaks for itself. Yet we may be permitted to say, that of all the productions to which the melancholy subject has given occasion, we have met with none that is more . . strikingly marked by pious simplicity, pathetic eloquence, sound reasoning, moral energy, and philosophic reflection, animated by a pure sense of devotion. For the gratification of our Readers, we take the liberty of stating who the Gentleman is to whom they are indebted for those exhor:ations, which, though founded upon a calamity of the highest national importance, are adapted to every condition of Ere, and must leave a useful lesson upon the of every one that peruses them. The Reve rend Dr. KAYE was the Senior IVrangler and Senior Medallist in 1804, being the HIGHEST Mathematical and FIRST Classical Honours which the University of Cambridge has to bestow. In the same year he was likewise the second of SMITH'S Prize Men. At this time Mr. KAYE was under age. Soon after he became a Fellow of Christ's College, and in 1815 was elected Master of it. In 1i416 he was chosen Vice-Chancellor of the University; in 1817, Regius Professor, on the death of the late Bishop of LANDAU?, and in No vember last, at a Meeting of the IlEans of Houses, hr Was unanimously selected and requested to preach the Sermon before the whole University at St. Mary's Church, on the death of the late Princess CHARLOTTE of ‘VALES. We will not any longer delay the gratification, though of a melancholy kind, which we are sure our Readers will derive from a discourse that presents consi siderations to the human mind calculated to raise awful reflections, to awaken it to a due sense of the transitory enjoyments of this life, and to pre pare it for the permanent blessings of a better : " If ever an event was calculated to convince us of the instability of all earthly grandeur, and of the vanity of all earthly expectations ; to make us acknowledge our own utter insignificance ; to tause us to fall in prostrate submission before the throne of God, and to look to Him as our only stay and refuge ; the sad event which we this day deplore is surely calculated to excite those feelings. Where now are the bright prospects of national prosperity with which we lately pleased ourselves ? We 'fondly hoped •that the clouds which had so long lowered upon our political ho rizon were at length dispelled ; that we were at length about to taste the sweets of foreign and domestic peace ; that plenty was again about to smile upon our land, and to diffuse content and gladness throughout our dwellings. And as the consummation of all these blessings—we looked forward with longing expectation to that event which, to human foresight at least, appeared best calculated to give them perpetuity ; to ensure the continuance of internal trangitillity, by prolonging the Royal line to another generation, awl thus binding by an additional tie the affections of a loyal people. We even dared to anticipate the bi r th a our future Sovereign, and were pre pared to hail it with rejoicings. How is the scene now charged ! A few short hours bare dashed to the ground the fabric which our sanguine fancies had teared. It haS pleased God not only to ,dis aappoiut our immediate hopes, but to take from its the ground of future expectation. The tree, which was but now so goodly to behold, and gave such promise of new and vigorous shoots, is mAimed in its very stock ; the transient gleam which brightened our national prospect is passed, and our minds are overwhelmed at once with the sense of present, and the apprehension of future calamity. " Grievous, indeed, is the loss we have sustain ed : for though the illustrious Princess whom we _now deplore was shown to us but for a brief space, that brief space was sufficient to impress our hearts with love and admiration ; to inspire the liveliest presages of the glories of her future reign. To the great portion of mankind, but especially to the rich and powerful, youth is for the most part the season.of unbounded indulgence. Charmed with the novelty of the scene upon which they arr entering, and transported with.the variety of delights which the world displays before their eves, they are intent only on present gratification: the future has no place in their thoughts. En gaged in a pet petual round of dissipation, they can scarcely bestow a single moment on their tempo ral interests ; much less can they consent to waste 'their time in preparing for that eternity, which to them appears to be temoved to an immeasurable - distance. Vet at this dangerous and susceptible ae‘e, vaith all that power and riches could com tumid ‘vithin her reach, possessed of the means of t al ity n ig e very ish which fancy could devise, this excellent Lady chose the better part, and looked for happiness not in the gaiety and splen dour of a court, but in the still retirement of do mestic life. She eat ly learned that wisdom, which many never acquire at all, and few till after years of dear hOtight experience—to feel the compara tive insignificance of. earthly pursuits, and to de •►ise the world and all its Gilded follies. v .',ln eititnatiug the characters of Princes we teldoin make due allowance for the obstacles which the circumstances of their birth oppose to their moral imptovemenr. Our blessed Lord has ex pressed by a strong similitude the greatness of the temptations to Which wealth exposes its posses sor; but when wealth and power are united' iu the 'same person, the danger becomes doubly for midable. Accustomed from their earliest infancy to command the ready obedience of all around them, and to obtain immediate compliance with their desires ; besieged by flatterers who persuade them that they are not bound by the same rules to which men in humbler stations of life are sub ject ; the great are too apt to contract a habit of neglecting the convenience and the feelings of others, and of referring all things to their own gratification. Even minds naturally disposed to benevolence ate soon hardened into this callous insensibility, unless they are early impressed with religious principles and motives. By these our illustrious Princess escaped its fatal influence, Though raised so- fat' above the common level of mankind,' she thought none so low . as not to be entitled to her regard. • The power, which her elevated rank conferred opOn her, was in her eyes a trust for the discharge of which site was ac countable : and with this conviction deeply root ed in her heart, she omitted no opportunity of gaining those qualifications which might enable her worthily to act her part upon the busy theatre of public life. She felt the awful responsibility of the situation in ea hich her birth had placed her ; and strove, by acquiring the mastery over her own passions and desires, to fit herself for the arduous task of exercising dominion over others. No pur suit had any charms for her which had not some tendency to promote her intellectual or spiritual iriprovement. Innocent and instructive recrea tions ; the acquisition of knowledge ; the per formance of acts of devotion to God and of bene volence to mankind ; these were the employments which diversified her day : employmmts always delightful to the pure of heart ; but doubly so to her, who shared them with a companion of habits and disposition congenial to her own. " This was, indeed, the peculiar biassing of her lot ; the crown of all the other blessings which Providence had conferred upon her; the blessing, without which her exalted rank would only have been splendid misery ; without which the opening graces of her character might never have seen the light, and the fair promise of hi tore excellence have been withered in the bud.— Had she been doomed to the too common fate of princes, and compelled to sacrifice her own incli nations to mistaken views of national aggran dizement ; had she been united to one whom her heart secretly disapproved, and, finding the sources of doniectic happiness closed aaaiust her, been tempted to seek relief from her uneasy thoughts amidst the pleasures and dissipation of the world, how different then might have been her character ! Levity, indifference to the wel fare of her fellow-creatures, and dislike of reli gious duties might have supplied the place of se riousoess, benevolence, and devotion in her breast. From this fatal rock, on which the great too often make miserable shipwreck of ,both their present and future peace, it was her happy lot to be preserved by the firmness and rectitude of her owo mind, and by the tenderness of an indulgent father. She was united to the husband of her choice ; and her choice had fallen on one, who appeals of all met) to have been best calculated to promote her happiness, and to bring her growing virtues to maturity ; whose amusements, whose studies, whose tastes, whose feelings accorded with her own ; in whose affectionate bosom she could with fearless confidence repose her most se cret thoughts; whose judgment guided, and whose approbation cheered her progress towards perfection. XVII() could witness the pure and un divided affection of this Illustrious Pair, and not resolve, like them, to seek for happiness in the calm enjoyments of domestic life ? Compared with the moral efficacy of this bright example, how iirs(;nificant -do all the a dvantages appear which our country could have derived from the most powerful foreign alliance ! " Such was the Illustrious Princess whom but now we saw entering on the career of life ; and never did fairer prospects open upon mortal eye, t!tall those which lay before her. D,'scentied from a line of Kings ; placed near the very summit of earthly power ; united to the husband of her choice ; the object of a people's fondest hopes, ,vho saw in her opening virtues the earnest of their future welfare ; every source of happiness which this probationary state affords seemed to be hers. But what is the life of man ?it is even a vapour that appearcth for a little time and then vanisheth away ' An untimely death has torn tier froth the world, and has left us to bewail our , disappointed hopes, and to mourn over this awful iustauce of the insecurity of all human greatness. " * James, iv. 14." THE A 11111 Y. COURT-MARTIAL ON MAJOR BAILLIE. (Concluded from Tuesday's Su N.) Lieutenants SMALL and ANDERSON detailed the facts of the case much to the same effect as Major PEAT. Colonel CODD stated, that about the 22d of March he received a letter from Major Peat, com manding the right wing, calling on him to inter fere respecting a combination of the Officers, who had been acting improperly, and, among other things, had changed their hour of dining. He told Major Peat it was his business, arid that he did not choose, to interfere. He, however, related to him the manner in which he had him self acted upon a similar occasion, when the Officers under his command had changed their hoar of mess ; they had voted for five o'clock instead of three. He did not attempt to control isimm otherwise than by .adopting this stratagem : —He paraded his regiment, and at. three o'clock he ordered dinner to be got ready for himself and the Officers who had voted for three o'clock, and, during the dinner, he kept the Officers who had voted for fise fully employed in drilling the men. As soon as his own dinner was.finished, he returned and dismis - sed the troops, having first directed the messman not to bring in a second din ner. This continued for two or three days ; at last they came all in, expressed their contrition, and consented to their customary and regular hour. The witness did not recollect that Major llaillie was one of the Officers complained agaiust, though his name was mentioned. Several of the Officets transmitted a paper to him, in' which they alleged that they were perfectly right, and were supporting their own honour and that of the army. He communicated his disapprobation to the Officers, and be expressed to Major Baillie how much he was hurt at their conduct. He re- . ccalitedvrdering orb of Officers into the bar racks, because he had accommodated those who had seceded from the mess. He had never any complaint •to make of Major Baillie ; on the con trary, lie was an Officer who had always done his duty. The parade usually commenced at half past five ; its continuance depended upon circum stances. He remembered having addressed him self to the regiment. It had been reported to him that several of the privates bad take❑ Major Peat's horse, which had been sent to water ; that, they had beat the animal in a cruel manner, and led it into a point, where it was drowned. Having in vain endeavoured to find out the offenders, be rode up to the regiment, told the men he lamented their conduct, and was sorry they would screen a set of scoundrels. lie had attributed this outrage to the conduct of the Officers, but did not mention the Officers of the mess particularly. After Col. Farquharson ar rived at Barbadoea;witness heard that he had ar rested several of the Officers. On his cross examination, he said Colonel Farquharson had told him the - conduct of the Officers who had se ceded from the mess was under the examination of the Commander-in-Chief. He said he did not consider a late hour of mess injurious to the dis cipline of the mess, or inconvenient to the Com mander; at least it never had been so to him, for he always kept the regiment out as long as he pleased, without consulting the convenience of the Offi cers ; the lateness of the hour was consequently inconvenient to themselves only. Colollel FARQUHARSON wished to call the Mess man to detail conversations of the Officers which he said indicated a spirit of insubordination, but Major Baillie submitted whether the Court ought to take any notice of the evidence of a private soldier acting in the capacity of a servant, who was called upon to betray what he might have heard his Officers and Masters say among them selves after dinner. The Court was cleared to deliberate upon this objection—the result was, that the evidence was inadmissible. Major BAII.LIE now entered upon his defence, which was a very eloquent and masterly composi tion. He expressed his regret that a gentleman of Colonel Farquharson's experience in the army should have thought it necessary to put an officer of his rank upon his trial for an alleged offence of so very equivocal a nature, and unsupported by any evidence which had the most remote tendency to bring the charge home to him. He declared upon his honour as a British officer, he should hold himself disgraced if he thought he was ca pable of acting in any way calculated to embar ras the operations of a superior officer, or pre sent to those below him an example of insubor dination or disregard'ot that strict discipline so indispensible in the army. He had ever consi dered the hour at which the officers should dine of mere private regulation among themselves, to interfere with which was an act of arbitrary and captious interposition on the part of a superior in command. He wholly disclaimed any intention of opposing the orders of Major Peat. It had not been proved that he was present when an of ficer had stated that the authority of a Commander in Chief was only a matter of opinion ; he had never heard such an expression made use of, and therefore, even if such words had been uttered, no imputation attached upon him.— Equally unconscious was he of the advertisement fur a Civilian in the Barbadoes'papers. He had no further acted in this affair than by giving his sanction to the proposed alteration of the hour of mess, and his reason for adopting it was, that the Parade at Barbadoes was a place of considera ble extent, and round which the batt a li on was constantly marched, in slow time, q u i c k t i me , and double quick time. His own health, as well as that of the other dismounted officers, had felt the injurious effects of so violent an exercise in that warm climate so immediately after dinner.— Acting upon this feeling only, he had acceded to the latter hour of mess. As a proof that he was actuated by no improper or disrespectful m , ative, he had uniformly continued to attend the regular mess, except on the garrison parade days. He conceived the present charges were not sufficiently sustained against him to require him to call any evidence to refute them. He had an abundance of witnesses, who were ready to bear testimony to his conduct and character during the whole pe riot, of his military service. It %yrs, he thought, wholly unnecessary to adduce them ; he should be only occupying the time and attention of the Court in refuting accusations as unfounded as they were disproved, even by the witnesses on the part of the Prosecutor. On their evidence alone he should rest his defence, confident that, in the wisdom and justice of a Court composed as the present one was, his honour as a soldier and a gentleman was perfectly secure. The Court was cleared, and after a short inter val adjourned. The opinion of the Court cannot be promulgated till the proceedings shall have been submitted to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent and the Commander-in-Chief. INSANITY.—Last night, about eight o'clock, several of the inhabitants of Norfolk-street, in the Strand, were suddenly alarmed by the report of a pistol, the sound of which proceeded from the end of the street adjoining the Th a mes, and on hastening to the s p ot , were s h oc k e d to fi n d the body of a Gentl eman , exp i r i ng, apparent ly near 60 years of ege, shot through the head, and weltering in his blood. He was recognized by an eminent Solicitor in the neighbourhood to be a foreign Officer of the name of Brown ; and the body, after his clothes had bgen searched, was conveyed to, the parish work-house in Strand lane, till the Coroner's Inquest shall be assemble:l. Mr. JOHN GREENWOOD, attorney, of Halifax, aged 24 years, and second son of the late WIL• LIAM GREENWOOD, Esq. of Leeds, banker, in rid ing through Burnley, on Saturday se'unight, fell from his horse and fractured his skull. He. lin gered until Sunday afternoon, when he died. TO CORRESPONDENTS. We must decline the insertion of the spirited Letter front IVlri MANNERS, addressed to HENRY BROUGHAM, Esq. as it would probably subject us to a criticism rather more for , midable than any that could result from the literary powers or political wisdom of the latter. We have only to. addt that we are assured that this Letter was delivered to tb, party concerned,.but rcceivq no ansibcr. We shall be glad to be favoured with the Correspondence of BETA. 1, ,* For Tice COUNTRY, see the Fourth Page. THEATRICAL REGISTER. Perfuented cm Saturday Night. THEATRE ROYAL, bRURY-LAN::.—Town and s Countiy: Re`i ben Cilenroy, Mr. Kean ; Rosalie Somers, Mrs. Robinson. After which, Harlequin's Vision. THEATREROYAL,COVENT-GARDEN.—Guy Mannering : Hen r i Bertram, Mr. Braham ; Lucy Bertram, Miss Stephen s ' After which, Harlequin Gulliver. ARRIVED-3 France, 1 Brazils I Guernsey and Jersey. 2 Dublin, 3 Waterford. Brazils, Brazils, 2 Flanders, 1 Hawburgh, '2 Holland, 1 Malta, 5 Gottcnburgli. QUEEN'S Bt RTH- DAY.—Holiday at the Bank, Exchequer*, East ladies and South Sea Houses. Average Price of Brown or Muscovado Sugar, computed, from the Returns made in the Week ending the 14 th day °I January, is 495. Hid. per cwt. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO•NIORROW• Morning, 17 minutes after 12. I Evening, 42 minutes after ~_ THE SUN. SOLEM QUIS DICERE FALSUM AUDERT LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1818. A few Palls Papers of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday last reached town last night tl►roug h a private channel, from which we give extracts to another column ; and this morning, by the usua l course of arrival, we received five days' Journals to Friday last inclusive. The Committee on the Concordat had, it er pears, discontinued their Sittings, in consequence of the division of opinion amongst the Members respecting the Projet. It had been, howev er ' agreed by the Members to call in the Doke dc RICHELIEU and M. LAINE, to give their opinions upon the question, for the purpose of hearing which the Committee were to have a special meeting. The Count de PALMELA, the Portuguese Minis' ter here, who had gone to Paris for the p w rposc of conferring respecting the differences between Spain and Portugal, left the French capital OP Monday last, on his way back to this Country. The following are Extracts from the Journals received ibis morning, in addition to those given io another column :- 4 , CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. JAN. 14. opened on the Projet re— " The discussion was specting the recruitment of the army. " M.Josse de. Beauvoir opposed the Proiet the ground of its being a conscription under al" other name, and proposed instead, there 51100 4 be the offer of a voluntary enlistment to the amount wanted in each department, and that only on the failure of that, the ballot should be rc' sorted to. " The Count de Bondy defended the. Projtt• contending, that the usual means of recruiting having failed, it became indispensably necesssri to resort to the present plan to provide for con" tingencies, whilst, as the supplies would be all' nnally voted, the subject would be always in th e power of the Chamber. " M. de Caumont spoke against the Projet, atla deprecated employing men from the same depart' ment under one standard, as they might be actu- ateci by a dangerous spirit. " The Baron de Brigode advocated the Projet , on the principle of its being necessary in a period of peace to provide the means of forming an arm/ in case of the recurrence of war. " M. de Courtaruel opposed the Projet, on the ground of its trenching upon the Royal per' rogative. Discussion abjoutned till to-morrow. " JANUARY 15. " Discussion resumed on the Projei respecting Re- cruiting. " The Count Dupont, Deputy from Charente, supported the Projet, contending that it was ab.• solutely necessary. He concluded by proposing several amendments, amongst which was one pur porting that the Royal Guards should be recruited, half by means of men seleCted from the army, and the other half by voluntary enlistment. " M. Barthe Labastide opposed the Projet, as unconstitutional. " M. de Chauvelin supported the Projet gene rally, but proposed some amendments with the view of enacting more exactly by law some of the details, particularly with regard to the number of men to be raised in each department. " M. de Salaberry condemned the Projet, as being neither Monarchical, Constitutional, nor Politic. • " Discussion adjourned till to-morrow. " CHAMBER OF PEERS, JAN: 15. fr The Report of the Committee on the Projet